Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
Last season the Minnesota Wild employed one of the best goalies in NHL history. Marc-Andre Fleury will waltz into the Hall of Fame someday, and he left the game with three Stanley Cup’s and 575 regular season wins.
How John Hynes’ team handled this season was largely going to rely on the goalie position. Filip Gustavsson is the incumbent veteran, but rookie Jesper Wallstedt needed to step up as well.
The Swedish netminder was a first round pick in 2021, and he has put together quite the impressive run to start 2025.
Jesper Wallstedt logs second-straight shutout for Minnesota Wild
It had been a week since the Minnesota Wild had Jesper Wallstedt between the pipes. They won a controversial shocker in that time, but the rookie put up a shutout against the Calgary Flames his last time out. Against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night, he replicated the performance.
Wallstedt saved all 36 shots against him from the Flames on November 9th. With the Ducks, an 11-5-1 team, peppering him on Saturday night, he stopped 28 shots. At home, Wallstedt turned away a pair of power play shots as well as three shorthanded attempts. The second shutout now leads the entire NHL.
Minnesota got goals from both Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson to secure a 2-0 victory. The win pushed the record to 8-7-4 on the season as they continue to build back from a slow start.
Wallstedt has largely been untested to this point. He had just five total games at the NHL level across the past two years, and just surpassed that tally with his start on Saturday. Minnesota needs their young goalie to be a key cog this season, and his 4-0-2 record is a good start to things.
Minnesota is back in action on Sunday for a back-to-back against the Las Vegas Nights at Grand Casino Arena.
Mentioned in this article: Jesper Wallstedt
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